


Worlds Collide

by lil_1337



Category: Doctor Who, FAKE, Torchwood
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-11
Updated: 2008-03-11
Packaged: 2017-11-06 23:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/424339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil_1337/pseuds/lil_1337
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dee and Ryo deal with tourists after hours on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worlds Collide

"I hate working third shift. All the weirdoes come out after midnight." Detective Dee Laytner stood waiting for the elevator that would take them most of the way to the Empire State Building's observation deck. Because it was past the one fifteen am closing time the elevators available for public use had been locked down and the security guard who had let them into the building was only slightly more cooperative than The Badger with a hangover, obviously not buying Dee's story that they had received a call that several people were spotted on the lookout. Refusing to allow them access to the staff facilities he had left them waiting while he had the control room return the elevator to the lobby. "Arrrgh when is this thing going to get down here?" Dee punched the button again, glaring at the shiny gold door.

"Patience, Dee. It's a virtue." Dee's partner, Randy "Ryo" McClain smiled, affectionate and amused at the same time. From the color of their hair, to the style of their clothes the two men were a study in complimentary opposites. Yet each carried himself with the heightened awareness of a trained police officer. "We could always take the stairs if you have that much energy to burn off. It might be good for you with all the smoking you do."

"I'd rather use my energy other ways." Dee leered, causing a bright pink blush to cover Ryo's cheeks.

The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and sparing Ryo the need to respond. He hurriedly stepped in and pushed the button for the eightieth floor. The doors slid closed and the elevator rose, silently and efficiently as it made its way up on well tended pulleys. When they reached their destination they transferred to the other elevator that would take them the rest of the way up. Silence settled around them and both men had slipped into the wide legged stance of a cop going into an unknown situation. From the second elevator it was a short walk past the souvenir stands, dark and silent now that business hours were over, through the doors out onto the deck itself. In the back near one of the magazine racks Ryo spotted what appeared to be an old-fashioned police box, recognizing it from his trip to England with Dee. Tapping his partner on the shoulder, Ryo pointed it out, getting a shrug and a headshake in return.

Once they were through the double doors onto the deck itself the trespassers were easy to spot. A man and a woman stood by one of the binocular viewers looking out over the city while another man wearing a long coat was carefully climbing up the wire safety fence that surrounded the platform.

"We've got a potential jumper." Ryo hissed under his breath as he eased his way closer, keeping a careful watch on the third man.

Swearing quietly, Dee stepped forward, his badge in his hand. "New York City Police. What the hell do you think you're doing? Get down from there!"

"Capt'n Jack Harkness." The man on the fence pivoted gracefully to face the newcomers and jumped down, his hand extended to shake. "You are?"

Dee ignored the offered hand, but did return the man's devilish grin with one of his own. "Laytner. Detective Dee Laytner."

Ryo relaxed slightly once the man was on the ground but made no attempt to return the smile; the picture of the polite professional. "Can we see some identification, please?"

"Certainly." Moving slowly and keeping his hands in plain view Captain Harkness removed his wallet and took out a laminated card that he passed to Dee.

"Torchwood?" Dee asked, sounding dubious. "I've never heard of that. What are you, an English spy?"

"That's MI-5." The captain flashed another of his 'come fuck me smiles'. "Torchwood has no interest in politics." He leaned in as if sharing a secret and lowered his voice. "We're outside of the government and beyond the United Nations."

"The good captain is with us. He's not here in any official capacity." The dark haired man leaning against the fence cut into the conversation, sending his companion an exasperated look that was pointedly ignored. The man's accent identified him as being English despite the fact that his friend sounded American.

"And you are?"

"This is Miss Martha Jones and everyone just calls me The Doctor. Lovely building you have here. Just brilliant. Hadn't seen it since it was completed."

Ryo frowned and flashed a look at Dee. The man calling himself The Doctor did not look close to being old enough to have seen the Empire State Building before it was finished in 1931. Ryo's stance softened a little and he smiled. "Do you have any identification?"

"Right." She smiled brightly and pulled a UK driving license out of the back pocket of her jeans. From what he could tell it appeared to be valid and after studying it for a minute he handed it back. "Thank you, Miss Jones. Doctor?"

"Certainly."

The case that Ryo was handed was square and black with a simple flap covering a Torchwood identification card that was the twin of the one carried by Captain Jack. Reluctantly he handed it back with a smile and a thank you. "What exactly are you doing here?"

"The usual tourist things. Checking out the nightlife. Seeing the sights and finding out what New York has to offer in the way of entertainment." Captain Jack grinned at The Doctor who made an exasperated noise. "You wouldn't be available to show us around would you?" Jack's attention shifted to Dee again, his words a soft caress, laden with promise. "I'm sure we could find some way to repay you."

Ryo's eyes narrowed even more, his voice losing some of its polite indifference. "What exactly are you people doing here? This building is closed to visitors. We could have you arrested for trespassing."

"Let me explain." The Doctor smiled, bouncing from his heels to the toes of his bright red converse sneakers. "My friends and I mean no harm; we were merely looking for the highest spot in the city." He looked from Ryo to Dee and then back. "Martha and I remembered the good old Empire State Building and though it would be fun to see how it came out."

Ryo nodded, not commenting on the historical improbability of The Doctor's statement. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"A lizard." The Doctor rocked back on his heels again grinning, clearly pleased with himself." It would be bright red. Hard to miss."

Dee and Ryo exchanged a look before Dee spoke, disbelief coloring his words. "You broke into The Empire State Building to look for a /lizard/?"

"Well, not just any lizard." The Doctor kicked into lecture mode, looking like a college professor asked to expound on his pet subject. "Draconus maximus from the planet Epsilon 42. It's migration time and it got off course, distracted by the lights I reckon. We were just going to shoo it back the way it came and be on our way."

"Does this happen a lot? Lizards from outer space get lost and you have to find them?" Dee shot a look at Martha, singling her out as the one most likely to give him a straight and reasonably sane answer.

 

"More than you'd think." Martha smirked, moving away from the two detectives to look out over the city.

Dee didn't bother to hide the amusement in his voice. "We could issue an APB for it if that would help. Get the whole department looking for this thing. It's not like we have any real crimes to solve."

"I don't think that will be necessary." Jack inserted himself into the conversation smoothly, ignoring the obvious sarcasm. His fingers rested lightly on Dee's shoulder. "But thank you for the offer."

Dee shrugged. "Protect and serve. That's our motto. As long as I don't have to do paperwork."

"I'm sure you live up to it, Detective Laytner. You strike me as the kind of man who has dedicated himself to the service of others."

Ryo cleared his throat, eyes shooting daggers at both Jack and Dee. "My /partner/ is too busy /working/ to have time to service /civilians/. It's that right Detective Laytner?"

Dee opened his mouth to reply when Martha yelled, pointing to one of the buildings across the way. "Doctor! Look! There it is!"

The Doctor rushed to where she stood, his eyes quickly following where she was looking. "That's it! Martha Jones, you are brilliant."

Martha grinned, flashing him a smile. "I know." She winked at Ryo then turned her attention back to her companions. "What do we do now? It's too far away to capture it."

"I think if I hit with a beam from my sonic screw driver we can chase it back the way it came. It shouldn't take much. They're very nervous creatures you know." The Doctor pulled what looked like a cross between a flashlight and an extension magnet out of his pocket and began fiddling with it. He reached through the mesh of the fence and pointed the thing at the lizard now sitting placidly on the roof, tongue flicking out at regular intervals. A beam of light shot out, hitting it on the tail and sending it skittering up and away. A second hit brought forth a pair of wings and the animal took flight, heading straight up until it disappeared from sight. The Doctor turned off the instrument and returned it to his pocket taking no heed of the two slack jawed Detectives standing to right and slightly behind him. "Right, well that's done then. Shall we go?"

Neither Dee nor Ryo tried to stop the other three as they brushed past with Jack stopping long enough to tuck one of his business cards into Dee's shirt pocket and whisper call me. Moments later there was a sound like an old crank telephone and a freak wind gushed across the observation deck.

Then there was silence.

Dee was the first to recover. Pulling a package of cigarettes out of his pants he tipped one out, looking around to survey the familiar sight of New York in the wee hours of the morning. He lit it and took a long drag, blowing the smoke out slowly. "Fucking tourists and their pets."


End file.
